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IFIH1 is a DEAD box protein which is upregulated in response to treatment with beta-interferon and a protein kinase C-activating compound, mezerein. Irreversible reprogramming of melanomas can be attained by therapy with both these agents; treatment with either agent alone only achieves reversible differentiation. DEAD box proteins are implicated in several cellular processes involving alteration of RNA secondary structure such as translation initiation, nuclear and mitochondrial splicing, and ribosome and spliceosome assembly.

Adiponectin is a recently discovered 244 amino acid protein, the product of the apM1 gene, which is physiologically active and specifically and highly expressed in adipose cells (Adipokine). The protein belongs to the soluble defense collagen super family; it has a collagen-like domain structurally homologous with collagen VIII and X and complement factor C1q-like globular domain. APM-1 forms homotrimers, which are the building blocks for higher order complexes found circulating in serum.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase [NAD] subunit gamma (IDH3G) mitochondrial is a member of the isocitrate and isopropylmalate dehydrogenases family. Isocitrate dehydrogenases catalyze the oxidative decarboxylation of isocitrate to 2-oxoglutarate. The IDH3G is a gamma subunit of one isozyme of isocitrate dehydrogenase which belongs to a distinct subclass, which utilizes NAD(+) as the electron acceptor, and is restricted to the mitochondrial matrix.

TP53-induced glycolysis and apoptosis regulator (TIGAR or C12ORF5), is a 270 amino acid protein induced by the p53 tumor suppressor pathway that functions to protect against oxidative stress. C12ORF5 specifically functions to block glycolysis, leading the pathway to the pentose phosphate shunt and decreasing the intracellular concentration of reactive oxygen species. Therefore, it is thought that C12ORF5 may act to modulate the apoptotic response to p53, thus allowing cells to survive mild or transient stresses.

PDIA3 is an enzyme that belongs to the endoplasmic reticulum and interacts with lectin chaperones calreticulin and calnexin to modulate folding of newly synthesized glycoproteins. PDIA3 has protein disulfide isomerase activity. Complexes of lectins and PDIA3 mediate protein folding by promoting formation of disulfide bonds in their glycoprotein substrates. PDIA3 is expressed in the lumbar spinal cord from rats submitted to peripheral lesion during neonatal period. PDIA3 interacts with thiazide-sensitive sodium-chloride cotransporter in the kidney and is induced by glucose deprivation. PDIA3 is part of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I peptide-loading complex (TAP1), which is important for formation of the final antigen conformation and export from the endoplasmic reticulum to the cell surface.

Celiac disease is an enteropathy that is characterized by intestinal lesions of variable severity. Tissue-type transglutaminase (tTG) is believed to be the predominant autoantigen for celiac disease and the corresponding autoantibodies show higher sensitivity and specificity than anti-gliadin antibodies. Highly pure recombinant human tTG is now available to replace the traditionally used tTG fraction from guinea pig.
Tissue-type transglutaminase antigens have been specifically modified for improved handling: exchange of an active site amino acid eliminates the protein cross-linking activity of the enzyme, while maintaining the native three-dimensional structure and the enzyme's secondary GTPase activity. This engineering assures reproducible properties of the antigen preparations through the absence of variable and ill-defined covalent aggregates of tTG antigen and host cell proteins.

THAP3 is an element of a THAP1/THAP3-HCFC1-OGT complex which is essential for the regulation of the transcriptional activity of RRM1. THAP3 is vastly produced in placenta, skeletal muscle and heart.

Podocalyxin (PODXL) is a greatly glycosylated transmembrane sialoprotein in the CD34 and endoglycan family. The PODXL protein is involved in the regulation of both adhesion and cell morphology and cancer progression. PODXL functions as an anti-adhesive molecule, which retains an open filtration pathway between neighboring foot processes in the podocyte by charge repulsion. Moreover, PODXL serves as a pro-adhesive molecule, enhancing the adherence of cells to immobilized ligands, increasing the rate of migration and cell-cell contacts in an integrin-dependent manner.

Thrombopoietin is a glycoprotein hormone produced mainly by the liver and the kidney which regulates the production of platelets by the bone marrow. TPO stimulates the production as well as differentiation of megakaryocytes, the bone marrow cells which fragment into large numbers of platelets.

Cadherin-2 isoform 1, also known as CDH2 is a transmembrane, homophilic glycoprotein which belongs to the calcium-dependent cell adhesion molecule family. CDH2 takes part in neurons and later on was discovered to participate in cardiac muscle and in cancer metastasis as well. The CDH2 loss promotes tumorigenesis through releasing membrane-bound β-catenin, and so stimulating Wnt signaling. Furthermore, CDH2 appears to be implicated in tumor development, however this discovery is limited in adrenocortical tumors-ACTs.

Human thyrostimulin ranks among the glycoprotein hormone family. These hormones consist of two subunits, the common alpha- and specific beta-subunits, which associate noncovalently to form a heterodimer. The alpha-subunit combines with four distinct beta-subunits giving rise to four biologically active hormones in human: FSH, LH, TSH, and CG. FSH, LH, and TSH, mainly expressed in the anterior pituitary, are essential for coordinated endocrine regulation in the hypothalamus- pituitary axis and show to activate specific G protein–coupled receptors in the thyroid (TSH receptor) and gonads (LH and FSH receptors), respectively.
The heterodimeric glycoprotein hormones have only been identified in vertebrates and are highly conserved in organisms from primitive rayfin fish (Chondrostei) to human in both primary sequences and functional characteristics.
Corticotroph-derived glycoprotein hormone (CGH), also referred to as thyrostimulin, is a noncovalent heterodimer of glycoprotein hormone alpha 2 (GPHA2) and glycoprotein hormone beta 5 (GPHB5).
Recombinant A2/B5 heterodimeric glycoproteins activates human TSH receptors, but not LH and FSH receptors, and shows high affinity to TSH receptors in a radioligand receptor assay. The heterodimer also stimulates cAMP production and thymidine incorporation by cultured thyroid cells and increases serum thyroxine levels in TSH-suppressed rats in vivo. This new heterodimeric glycoprotein hormone was named as thyrostimulin based on its thyroid-stimulating activity. The expression of thyrostimulin in the anterior pituitary known to express TSH receptors suggested a paracrine mechanism.

Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex, Component X, also known as PDHX, encodes the E3 binding protein subunit of the PDH complex which contains 3 catalytic subunits. PDHX tethers E3 dimers to the E2 core of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes of eukaryotes. This specific binding is critical for a functional PDH complex.

Recombinant Human Sonic Hedgehog is part of a small group of secreted proteins that are vital for development in both vertebrates and invertebrates. 3 mammalian hedgehog genes (sonic, desert, Indian) share about 60% homology. The Human Sonic Hedgehog is 99% homologous to the mouse gene. Sonic HedgeHog is a protein that is vital in guding the early embryo. It has been associated as the major inductive signal in patterning of the ventral neural tube, the anterior-posterior limb axis, and the ventral somites. Sonic HedgeHog binds to the patched receptor, which functions in association with smoothened, to activate the transcription of target genes. In the absence of sonic HedgeHog, patched receptor represses the constitutive signaling activity of smoothened. Sonic HedgeHog also regulates another factor, the gli oncogene. Sonic HedgeHog intercellular signal is essential for a various patterning events during development: signal produced by the notochord that induces ventral cell fate in the neural tube and somites, and the polarizing signal for patterning of the anterior-posterior axis of the developing limb bud. Sonic HedgeHog exhibits both floor plate- and motor neuron-inducing activity. Mutations in a long-range Sonic HedgeHog enhancer located in an intron of the limb region 1 gene result in preaxial polydactyly.

Adiponectin is an adipocyte specific secreted protein that circulates in the plasma. It is induced during adipocyte differentiation and its secretion is stimulated by insulin. Mouse adiponectin shares about 83% amino acid identity with that human. Adiponectin plays a role in various physiological processes such as energy homeostasis and obesity. Adiponectin is reduced in obese humans, and decreased level is associated with insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia.

DARS uses a 2 step reaction to catalyze the specific attachment of an amino acid to its cognate tRNA: the amino acid (AA) is first activated by ATP to form AA-AMP and then transferred to the acceptor end of the tRNA.

AKR1C3 is part of the aldo/keto reductase superfamily, which has at least 40 identified proteins. AKR1C3 catalyzes the conversion of aldehydes and ketones to their corresponding alcohols by utilizing NADH and/or NADPH as cofactors. AKR1C3 displays overlapping but distinct substrate specificity. AKR1C3 catalyzes the reduction of prostaglandin (PG) D2, PGH2 and phenanthrenequinone (PQ), and the oxidation of 9alpha,11beta-PGF2 to PGD2. AKR1C3 is involved in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases such as asthma. AKR1C3 controls cell growth and/or differentiation. AKR1C3 takes part in adrenal testosterone production. AKR1C3 expression is affected by metabolic disease, and its levels are considerably reduced in response to diet-induced weight loss and correlate with leptin levels.

Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member D1 (AKR1D1) belongs to the AKR superfamily. The AKR family proteins are soluble NADPH oxidoreductases, which have vital roles in the metabolism of drugs, carcinogens and reactive aldehydes. AKR1D1 is also responsible for the catalysis of the 5-beta-reduction of bile acid intermediates and steroid hormones that carry a delta (4)-3-1 structure. AKR1D1 is highly expressed in the liver, colon and testis. Deficiency of the AKR1D1 enzyme may contribute to hepatic dysfunction.

SDF-1 (stromal cell-derived factor-1) is small cytokine belonging to the chemokine family that is officially designated Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 12 (CXCL12). It is produced in two forms, SDF-1?/CXCL12a and SDF-1?/CXCL12b, by alternate splicing of the same gene. Chemokines are characterized by the presence of four conserved cysteines, which form two disulfide bonds. The CXCL12 proteins belong to the group of CXC chemokines, whose initial pair of cysteines are separated by one intervening amino acid. CXCL12 is strongly chemotactic for lymphocytes and has been implicated as an important cell co-ordinator during development. During embryogenesis it directs the migration of hematopoietic cells from foetal liver to bone marrow. Mice which were knocked-out for CXCL12 gene were lethal before the birth or within just 1 hour of life. As another role, CXCL12a alters also the electrophysiology of neurons. CXCL12 was shown to be expressend in many tissues in mice (including brain, thymus, heart, lung, liver, kidney, spleen and bone marrow).
The receptor for this chemokine is CXCR4, which was previously called fusin. This CXCL12-CXCR4 interaction used to be considered exclusive (unlike for other chemokines and their receptors), but recently it was suggested that CXCL12 is also bound by CXCR7 receptor.
The gene for CXCL12 is located on human chromosome 10. In human and mouse both CXCL12 and CXCR4 show high identity of sequence: 99% and 90%, respectively.

Short chain dehydrogenase/reductase family 16C, member5 (SDR16C5) is active in the oxidative direction as well as in the reductive one. SDR16C5 oxidizes all-trans-retinol in all-trans-retinaldehyde. No activity was detected with 11-cis-retinol or 11-cis-retinaldehyde as substrates with either NAD+/NADH or NADP+/NADPH.

Annexin VII is a member of the annexin family of calcium-dependent phospholipid binding proteins. Annexin VII has molecular weight of approximately 51 kDa with a unique, highly hydrophobic N-terminal domain of 167 amino acids and a conserved C-terminal region of 299 amino acids. The latter domain is composed of alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic segments. Structural analysis of the protein suggests that Annexin VII is a membrane binding protein with diverse properties including voltage-sensitive calcium channel activity, ion selectivity and membrane fusion.

Disulfide Oxidoreductase or DsbA is a protein, found in the plasma. It is part of the thioredoxin protein family. The protein creates disulfide bonds in the target proteins by contributing disulfide bond from its Cys30-Pro31-His32-Cys33 active site to a couple of cysteine residues.

Dsb proteins (DsbA, DsbB, DsbC, and DsbD) catalyze formation and isomerization of protein disulfide bonds in the periplasm of Escherichia coli. DsbC is periplasmic enzyme known as a disulfide isomerase and can convert aberrant disulfide bonds to correct ones.

NFNB demonstrates the capability to reduce quinines. NFNB enzyme activates prodrugs in antibody directed enzyme prodrug therapy. NFNB reduces nitrofurazone, quinones and anti-tumor agent CB1954 (5-(aziridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitrobenzamide). The reduction of CB1954 results in the generation of cytotoxic species.

Enoyl CoA hydratase domain containing 1 (ECHDC1) is a member of the enoyl-CoA hydratase/isomerase family. ECHDC1 is an enzyme which hydrates the double bond between the second and third carbons on acyl-CoA. The ECHDC1 enzyme is crucial to metabolizing fatty acids to supply both acetyl CoA and energy.